QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

53 km NNW of Austin, Nevada

· 0.0 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lander County 25 kmEureka County 91 kmChurchill County 91 kmPershing County 107 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lander County, 25 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Shoshone Range fault, 15 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2710 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 53 km NNW of Austin, Nevada at 04:39 UTC on 2019-05-02. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2019-04-28 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.8 The 1915 Pleasant Valley, Nevada Earthquake · 43 km NNW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 39.9342, -117.3347. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lander County, NV 25 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Lander County
Eureka County, NV 91 km (56 mi) E earthquakes near Eureka County
Churchill County, NV 91 km (56 mi) WSW earthquakes near Churchill County
Pershing County, NV 107 km (67 mi) WNW earthquakes near Pershing County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.9 57 km SSE of Imlay, Nevada
  2. 2.0 57 km WNW of Austin, Nevada
  3. 1.7 56 km WNW of Austin, Nevada
  4. 2.6 59 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  5. 2.0 60 km SE of Imlay, Nevada
  6. 2.6 55 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  7. 1.7 26 km W of Austin, Nevada
  8. 2.5 64 km ESE of Lovelock, Nevada
  9. 2.1 17 km NNE of Austin, Nevada
  10. 2.0 65 km E of Lovelock, Nevada
  11. 1.5 50 km W of Austin, Nevada
  12. 2.0 19 km NE of Austin, Nevada
  13. 1.5 46 km WNW of Austin, Nevada
  14. 1.7 15 km NNE of Austin, Nevada
  15. 1.7 23 km NE of Austin, Nevada

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.